VATICAN CITY
Jakarta Globe
The Vatican said Tuesday it has not accepted Bulgaria’s proposed ambassador to the Holy See, apparently rejecting diplomat Kiril Marichkov for writing a racy novel featuring gay sex and prostitution.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that “the proposal has not been agreed to,” leading observers to surmise that Marichkov had been rejected over a graphic scene in his successful 2005 novel “Clandestination”.
The book, based on the lives of illegal immigrants in Italy, features one scene where a desperate young eastern European man prostitutes himself with a man he picks up on a Rome street, before begging God’s forgiveness.
Lombardi would not comment on Sofia’s chosen candidate for the post, but confirmed there was no current Bulgarian ambassador at the Vatican.
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